The E3 Visa conversation with employers.

03 Apr The E3 Visa conversation with employers.

The most common situation where you’ll have to explain your visa is during one of the early email screens with the potential employer. Usually, before you even have a conversation with your potential employer, “Are you eligible to work in the US?” or “Do you require a visa or sponsorship?” are almost always asked in your application.

The email should also be written in a way that makes it easy for the employer to forward. It sounds like a small detail but it’s an important one. It could make the difference between someone making an internal case for your candidacy or archiving your application because they think you need an E3 visa which may seem inconvenient for the employer.

When to discuss the E3 visa?

Simply put: do not bring the subject up until your employer does. Reason being the later in the process it comes up the more receptive they’ll be to your visa status. At that stage, they’re more likely to be interested in employing you in general and they’ve already invested a lot in learning more about you.

At the same time never hide or mislead the company about your status or try and dodge the question. That’s not just sketchy but you also don’t want to waste your time talking to an employer that is against sponsoring visas. If you get the sense that the employer doesn’t have the resources or bandwidth to handle visa sponsorship then it’s in your best interest to tackle the issue head on and save both yourself and the employer time. Check out our dedicated agent services here.

The E3 process isn’t expensive in and of itself but they may insist on using a lawyer and that part will usually cost them $3,000 or more. For a small business that’s a lot of risk up front and if they don’t have the stomach for it then better to find out sooner rather than later.

Email text

Question: What’s your visa status?

Sample response:

For visas, I’m actually in a very fortunate position. There’s a visa solely for Australians that takes 1-3 weeks to get, costs $205 and they’re always available.

To give you a sense of how straightforward the process is: many applicants do the company’s paperwork themselves and it takes them about 4 hours in total. I’d be glad to discuss in more detail if needed and feel free to forward this internally to whoever is most appropriate.

[Insert question here to get the conversation focused on your candidacy and discuss next steps in the process. Be directional, not open-ended. For example: “For next steps I’d be happy to come in for a face-to-face interview” not “So, what are the next steps?” The former is easier for the recipient to respond to.]

Other expenses

Lawyers fees

Another tricky issue to consider is that filing costs are one thing but there are other costs your prospective employer will have to consider are the lawyer costs associated with doing your visa paperwork.

Most of the time the company will insist on using immigration lawyers for the E3. They cost several thousand dollars. This is not necessary and can be a serious waste of money in most cases. You can effectively apply for your E3 visa using our step by step guide, or having one of our dedicated agents guide you through the whole 4 week process, saving you thousands of lawyer fees.